'Alarming' rise in house listings: SQM

Housing stock on market has seen a significant rise in September, erasing a shock decline in August.

New figures from SQM Research show listings rose 5.6% month-on-month for September, putting national listings 24.2% higher than a year ago. Every capital city apart from Darwin saw a rise in listings, with Sydney experiencing the most significant influx of stock. Listings for Sydney rose 12.9% for the month.

Melbourne also experienced a significant surge in stock levels, with listings climbing 11.4% in September. The city has seen the greatest year-on-year rise, as stock levels are now 65.3% higher than last year.

SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said a rise in listings was expected during the Spring selling season, but that listings were well above numbers recorded last year. He said the result for Melbourne was "particularly alarming".

"It is possible the numbers might have been skewed by the October long weekend in that listings were brought forward. Still, it represents what I now regard as a massive oversupply situation for the city, and I believe it will translate to further house price falls from here," Christopher said.

Christopher commented that rises in stock for Brisbane, Perth and Hobart were lower than anticipated. Brisbane saw a 4.1% increase, with Perth stock rising 1.6% and Hobart listings up 1.8%. He said the result could indicate "we are closer to the bottom in that market than what we anticipated".